The Pink Panther in: Pink at First Sight
The Pink Panther in: Pink at First Sight is an animated Valentine's Day Special starring Pink Panther. It had its premiere on ABC on February 14, 1981, and would be first and only solo effort of David H. DePatie (without Friz Freleng) and his final new cartoon before his retirement in 1984. It is the first Pink Panther cartoon produced by Marvel Productions, which would go on to make new animated opening titles of Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther. Plot It is Valentine's Day and the Pink Panther is lonely and has no money (except for seven cents). He goes to a messenger service for a job but messes his rehearsal up. He then goes to a store, buys a cassette player and pre-recorded cassettes with the seven cents he had left and goes back to the messenger service miming to "Vesti la giubba", an aria from Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, and gets hired as a messenger. Antics on the job entangle the breezy cat with a jealous husband (after the Panther steals the heart of a housewife whilst miming a 50s-ish sounding ballad), a snobby classic violinist (after the Panther, who had the wrong recording on at the time, used a Stradivarius violin like an electric guitar), a priest (whom the Panther apparently gave the wrong present too) and a crime boss and tough gangsters (which their present was a bomb). Finally, after warding off the crime boss and his gang with a cassette containing excerpts of a police radio show (before the cops heard it, saw them and went after to arrest them), our hero meets the pantheress of his dreams, the ideal feline valentine. Voices *Frank Welker - The Baby, The Jester, Messenger Owner, The Man with the Golf Club, Viloinist, Customer, Announcer *Marilyn Schreffler - Baby's Mother, The Lady with the Umbrella, Nurse *Hal Smith - Crime Boss *Brian Cummings - Music Store Owner, Tough Gangsters *Weaver Copeland - Housewife Home Media releases Pink at First Sight made its VHS debut release by MGM/UA Home Video sometime during the 1980s. On November 6, 2007, the special alongside Olym-Pinks and A Pink Christmas was released as part of the DVD collection set The Pink Panther: A Pink Christmas from MGM Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Production Most of the animation staff utilized for the 1978 series The All-New Pink Panther Show worked on Pink at First Sight. The special also utilized several music cues from the series as well but unlike the TV show, a laugh track was not featured. Freleng was absent from this production due to him breaking up the studio he began with DePatie and then went back to Warner Bros. Many of the other characters' voices on this special (saving the silent Panther himself) were done by Frank Welker, Brian Cummings, Marilyn Schreffler, and Hal Smith. Gallery Pink lady.png Pink at the First Sight Promo.jpg Category:Under Construction Category:The Pink Panther shorts Category:1981 Shorts